White Screen of Death ... New Laptop?

DoaM

My old laptop suddenly decided to White Screen of Death on me. Whilst investigating I inadvertently disabled the Intel HD3000 graphics which means even an external monitor connected via HDMI gets no signal. (I know ... I'm a doofus). It's a 2nd Gen Core i7, 8GB RAM with a 500GB Samsung Evo 860 SSD, 15.6" full HD screen and an Nvidia GT540m graphics card as well as Intel HD3000; all based on a Pegatron A15HC mobo. (I got it 7.5 years ago from Cyberpower Systems and paid circa £700 back then ... I added the SSD and upped the RAM to 8GB. I also put the old 500GB HDD into a DVD caddy, and have the DVD connected by USB-SATA lead when needed).

If there's a way to enable the HD3000 graphics then I'm happy to listen to ideas.

If there's no way to recover it then I'm open to replacing it, so any ideas would be appreciated. Usage is mainly browsing etc. but I do also do a bit of gaming ... Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Trackmania Forever. Don't really have a budget - lower the cost the better (this is MSE after all). Happy to save cost by getting a version with a smaller HDD and reusing my SSD.

grumpycrab

DoaM said:

I inadvertently disabled the Intel HD3000 graphics on a Pegatron A15HC mobo.

I assume you can get into the BIOS?  Find the Enable Internal Graphics setting.  This is where is it for various motherboards.  Pegatron?
ASRock: Advanced > Chipset Configuration > IGPU Multi-Monitor > Enabled
ASRock: Advanced > North Bridge Configuration > IGPU Multi-Monitor > Enabled
ASUS: Advanced > System Agent (SA) Configuration > Graphics Configuration > iGPU Multi-Monitor > Enabled
BIOSTAR: Chipset > System Agent (SA) Configuration > Internal Graphics > Enabled
Gigabyte: Chipset > Internal Graphics > Enabled
Gigabyte: Peripherals > Intel Processor Graphics > Enabled
EVGA: Advanced > Graphics Configuration > Internal Graphics > Enabled
MSI: Settings > Advanced > Integrated Graphics Configuration > IGD Multi-Monitor > Enabled

Neil_Jones

Boot in Safe Mode?  Assuming you've disabled the GPU in Device Manager shouldn't affect its ability to show a POST screen.  If it doesn't work outside of Windows (ie in the BIOS) then you've more serious issues.  Getting it back in Windows should be relatively easy, the worse case scenario would be to reinstall the operating system.

Pegatron used to back in the days make boards for Asus, and also Asrock, before they went their separate ways.

They also seem to cobble together various boards for laptop manufacturers so they probably have more fingers in pies than it seems.

The A15HC mentioned by the OP is most likely Asus made by Pegatron.

DoaM

Unfortunately I don't see any POST screen ... this would normally show on the laptop screen itself not the monitor connected via HDMI. (The Nvidia card doesn't seem to have any direct external connections). Reading up it looks like I have a hardware failure with the Intel onboard graphics chip itself, and no way to get into the BIOS (and be able to see it). From memory, I don't think the Nvidia card is registered in the BIOS as a device, but I could be wrong. (It's been a loooooong time since I looked at the BIOS).

So it looks like I'm looking for a new (or refurb - I'm not ruling this out) laptop. Based on my OP, any suggestions?

DoaM

I was looking at this Dell refurb. Thoughts? OK? Better value options out there? Edit: Just noticed that the £695 price was ex-VAT ... £834 once VAT is added so more than I was looking to pay.

debitcardmayhem

Daft question have you tried a VGA monitor (if your lappy has a VGA port)?

Edit and press the function key for two/external screen ...worth a try

DoaM

It does have a VGA port ... as does my monitor. My problem might be locating a VGA cable in the current climate but I'll see what I can do. Thanks for the response. (I had wondered if the VGA port might be connected to the Nvidia card).

debitcardmayhem

You must have a cable drawer/box/room or all three like me , just threw 2 out from the garage(overflow storage) 👅

DoaM

debitcardmayhem said:

You must have a cable drawer/box/room or all three like me , just threw 2 out from the garage(overflow storage) 👅

Which exactly describes my own situation 🙄

MinuteNoodles

Remove the battery, pop the bottom off the laptop. Look for something that looks like a watch battery which may have a couple of leads coming out of it to a connector. Remove it, count to 10, put it back in and that should reset the BIOS settings to default.

DoaM

The CMOS battery isn't easily accessible - and the bottom doesn't easily come off; I tried.

Any recommendations for a new or refurb laptop? Where do people look these days? (Anyone responding with Google will get a virtual slap in the face with a wet fish). 🙄